Mater Dei Hospital is to get its first new ambulances by the end of the year, the Health Ministry said, days after the nurses’ union claimed that the promise of a fleet of new vehicles never materialised.

A ministry spokesman said a tender for the provision of 11 new ambulances was issued last year and the authorities were in the process of approving the contract for the purchase of such vehicles. The delivery of the new ambulances will span over three years.

Earlier in the week, the president of the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, Paul Pace, said that ambulances in operation were unsafe for both patients and medical staff.

However, the Health Ministry vehemently denied the claims, saying all seven Mater Dei Hospital ambulances had passed their Vehicle Roadworthiness Test and therefore none of the vehicles were obsolete or beyond repair.

The hospital’s Biomedical Department insisted that all ambulances in use adhere to internationally recognised standards at all times, and ambulances certified as ‘Not Usable’ are not utilised until the necessary repairs are carried out. This is usually done within 24 hours or earlier.

It pointed out that an ambulance is rented out from the private sector if some parts are not available and the vehicle cannot be repaired.

However, the “most serious and irresponsible” allegation of them all,the ministry added, was that the ambulances are not up to the necessary safety standards.

“This allegation, which undermines the work performed by the Biomedical Division, is completely false,” the spokesman added.

However, Mr Pace said the ambulances’ situation was “very far from what the hospital was saying”, and there were at least two ambulances which were beyond repair. Two ambulances were, in fact, rented from the private contractor on a daily basis, he added.

Mr Pace again questioned the ambulances’ safety standards, adding that the MUMN was requesting an urgent meeting and could mount industrial action because it was “about time” ambulance nurses were insured.

But the ministry spokesman said the government was a source of insurance itself. If any third parties sustained damages because of ambulance drivers, then the government would have to foot the bill, he said.